Loomis animal rescuer gets reprieve

A Loomis animal rescuer won’t have to pay to file for a permit to keep her elderly animals, the town council decided on Tuesday night.
At a packed Loomis council meeting on Jan. 11, Cindy Walden presented her appeal of a town staff directive that ordered her to reduce the number of dogs she keeps from five to four, and remove 20 chickens and two pygmy goats.
Under the town’s zoning ordinances, pygmy goats are considered to be large animals and keeping them would require a minor use permit for which the town charges $1,400. Chickens are not allowed at all in the zone where Walden lives.
The council did not uphold the staff directive, but instead voiced support of Walden being allowed to keep her animals. They voted to waive the $1,400 fee that will enable Walden to apply for a minor use permit, at which point the planning department would hold an administrative hearing and solicit neighbor comments.